This invention relates to a bird feeder which recycles feed material that is spilled due to the feeding action of birds, and in particular to such a device which prevents seed hulls and fecal matter which is dropped by birds feeding at the feeder from contaminating the recycled feed material.
When birds are fed particulate feed material such as seed, through openings in the sides of a vertically disposed bird feeder, a large percentage of the feed material is displaced from the feeder and falls to the ground and as a result is lost. This is because when birds eat they continuously sort through the feed material with their beaks in order to locate particularly desirable portions. This sorting, which is in the nature of a scratching action, pulls the surface layer of feed material toward the birds and thus out of the feeder. Once the feed material falls on the ground it generally will not be eaten and becomes wasted. Many birds will not eat on the ground where they are vulnerable to predators, and grass or undergrowth located under the feeder can make it difficult for those birds who will eat on the ground to find the fallen feed material. The fallen feed material not only is unavailable for feeding birds, but it can decay and cause a mess, it can attract rodents and, in the case of seed, it can sprout, which is undesirable in most garden locations.
Prior art attempts to recapture this displaced seed so that it can be recycled have largely been ineffective. The most effective devices for this purpose to date provide large lips which extend under the perches which support the birds when they are eating and catch the displaced feed materials. This lip communicates with an overflow compartment which is located below the main feed compartment of the feeder. Such devices are shown, for example, in Kerscher, U.S. Pat. No. 4,215,652 and LaJoie et al., U.S. Pat. No. 2,532,726. The difficulties with these prior art devices is that a lip located under a feeding bird catches seed hulls which are discarded by the bird and feces which are dropped by the bird as well as the unused feed material which is scratched out of the feeder. Thus, the unused feed material becomes contaminated and cannot be reused.
The feeder of the present invention overcomes the foregoing shortcomings and limitations of the prior art feeders of this type by providing an enclosed conduit for each feed opening in the feeder. Each conduit has an inlet which is positioned adjacent to the feed opening and an outlet which empties into an otherwise enclosed overflow chamber. The area of the conduit inlet is relatively small, less than double the area of the feed opening. In addition, the perch the bird rests on when eating is located below the conduit inlet. Thus, it is impossible for feces that are dropped from the bird while it is eating to fall into the conduit. Also, since the bird is positioned below and outwardly of the feed opening it must reach into the opening to pick up feed material and the normal tendency is for a bird to straighten while it eats so that it can watch for possible danger in the immediate vicinity. Thus, its head will not be over the conduit inlet when it eats and seed hulls will not drop into the inlet. As a result, only uneaten feed material which is displaced due to scratching falls into the overflow chamber, and the displaced feed material can be recycled by placing it back into the body of the feeder.
In a preferred embodiment of the feeder several feeding chambers are positioned one above another and the conduit associated with the feed openings in each of the feed chambers but the bottommost one communicate with the next lower feed chamber. Thus, feed material displaced from openings in these feed chambers falls into the next lower feed chamber where it is automatically recycled.
Accordingly, it is a principal object of the present invention to provide a vertically-walled bird feeder in which feed material that is displaced from the feeder's feed openings falls into an overflow chamber through a conduit, the size and placement of which keeps out the hulls of eaten seeds and the feces of birds feeding at the feeder from falling into it.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide such a feeder having several feed chambers which are arranged one above another and the conduits associated with the feed holes in each chamber communicate with the next lower feed chamber so that the displaced feed material is automatically recycled.
The foregoing and other objectives, features and advantages of the present invention will be more readily understood upon consideration of the following detailed description of the invention taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.